Information Design: How To Design Effective Statistical Graphs - Robin Good Shows You How
In this PowerPoint presentation workshop on information design Robin Good talks you through the essentials of how to design professional statistical graphs in PowerPoint. Along the way he explodes some popular myths and passes on some essential advice on how to strip down your charts to have the maximum impact. Simple is beautiful - take away the busy clutter from those slides and see how much more effective they can be.
If you are set on using chunky, multi-colored 3D graphs to achieve the effect you are looking for, you may be in for some surprises. The end result of this workshop will leave you with graphs as simple and beautiful as a Zen garden.
Click here to see a full screen presentation of the video below
Central to Robin's approach to these high-impact, visually arresting charts is the elimination of superfluous information. You will learn exactly what to leave out, rather than a long checklist of items to add to spice up your charts, paring down rather than scaling up. The result is founded on a minimalist aesthetic that conveys the maximum amount of information with the minimum amount of on-screen clutter.
Read on to find out how you can strip your charts down to the bone to create a much more arresting effect than any amount of pyrotechnics or dramatic colour schemes might allow for.
The results of this take-no-prisoners approach to chart design jump off the screen without relying on animated embellishments, dizzying transitions or garish colour schemes. Following Robin's step by step examples, you will learn how to effectively:
Eliminate useless backgrounds that pen in your charts and detract from their overall effect
Eliminate prison bars by either using a much more effective 'negative ink' effect or getting rid of them completely. These bars spanning the background of your chart add little and create an unpleasant caged feeing in your charts
Eliminate useless frames and boxes that crowd the visual space, without contributing anything to the clarity of your message
Simplify the scale of your charts, stripping the extraneous information down and streamlining your message, so that your data has chance to breathe, and to make your essential point
Use 2D instead of 3D chart types, as the bundled 3D in PowerPoint adds nothing to your message and impresses nobody
Eliminate useless bar borders that subtly detract from the impact of your bar charts
Eliminate the axis lines and see how your graphs get along just fine without them, further opening up the visual space rather than cramping your data unnecessarily
Eliminate the legend, which is far from being essential to your message. The information it contains can be integrated directly into the chart itself
Eliminate different colours and go for different shades of the same colour, creating a powerful visual unity rather than a vomit-coloured rainbow of visual noise
Add values contextually to the bars, showing the information where it is most relevant and highlighting your visuals with context and clarity
Use negative lines where possible to create an elegant effect, transforming your black lines into white ones that subtly divide the bars in your chart
Integrate the legend within the graph, so that your information is all there in a single, cohesive whole rather than dotted around the page
Title clearly and appropriately up at the top of the screen, so that the first thing your viewers see is what the graph is going to communicate
With this extensive stripping back of all of the overkill and nonsense that can stifle your data and needlessly embellish your work, you not only get a clearer, more instantly understandable message, but also a stylish minimalist look that will have an impact upon anyone watching with your presentation.
Simplify, distill and refine the essence of your statistical data. Your audience will thank you for taking the time to make your message crystal clear.
posted by
Michael Pick
on Friday, December 15 2006
Tuesday, January 15 2008
URL of this article:
http://masterview.ikonosnewmedia.com/2006/12/15/information_design_how_to_design.htm
